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VOLUME 20 NO. 44

www.flcourier.com

NOVEMBER 2 - NOVEMBER 8, 2012

IN THE LAST DAYS
President Obama has to deal with an
unexpected storm, New Jersey Governor
Christie and devastated families as the
election cycle comes to a close.
FLORIDA COURIER STAFF

It’s the last lap of the election
and President Barack Obama
finds himself in the midst of a
storm during the last few days of
his campaign.
Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney both temporarily halted their last-minute
campaign pitches after Hurricane
POOL PHOTO BY MARTIN H. SIMON/CORBIS VIA ABACA PRESS/MCT Sandy does serious damage to the
President Barack Obama meets with administration officials at nation’s east coast.
The president and New JerFEMA headquarters in regards to cleanup efforts in the wake of
sey Gov. Chris Christie, an unSuperstorm Sandy. Shown left to right are FEMA Administrator likely pair – were thrust together
W. Craig Fugate, the president and Homeland Security Secreby a national crisis. They toured
tary Janet Napolitano.
ravaged stretches of the coast on

Tickets,
not time

Wednesday. The sun came out,
the stock exchange reopened and
the electricity crisis ebbed — but
the rolls of the dead rose, and
some areas were still coming to
grips with Sandy’s staggering destruction.

Obama pledges support

By the Florida Courier’s presstime on Wednedsay night, the
death toll from superstorm Sandy had risen to 72 and was exToo close to call
pected to keep climbing as workA CBS Times/New York Times/
ers combed through floodwaters, rubble and fallen trees in the Quinnipiac University survey reSee OBAMA, Page A2
more than a dozen states affect-

2012 HURRICANE SEASON / ONE MONTH REMAINING

Burned to the ground
The Breezy
Point neighborhood of
Queens, N.Y.
was devastated
by Hurricane
Sandy on
Tuesday. More
than eight
million people
in northeastern states are
without electricity in frigid
weather.
Read Page B1
for information on disaster
preparation as
this year’s hurricane season
winds down.

Experiment allows cops
to give citations over jail
BY MARGIE MENZEL
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

The state’s criminal justice system
has seen some success with using alternatives to lock-ups for juvenile offenders. It’s been so successful that
there’s a burgeoning movement to increase the use of non-jail diversion
programs with nonviolent adult offenders.
Backers of the idea announced on
Wednesday an agreement with Leon
County by which police will have the
ability to issue civil citations to people who commit certain crimes rather
than taking them to jail. If implemented statewide, backers say providing an
alternative to jail or prison for nonviolent adults could save Florida tens of
millions of dollars a year.
“It’s worked so well with the juveniles that we think it’ll work really well
with adults,” said Mark Flynn, president and CEO of the Smart Justice Alliance, which is pushing the concept.

CAROLYN COLE/LOS
ANGELES TIMES/MCT

Cops have discretion
The approach works by giving law
enforcement officers the discretion to
issue a civil citation rather than make
an arrest – but only when the offender
has no previous record and the offense
is nonviolent.
Leon County, which includes Tallahassee, was selected as the pilot partly because the concept of juvenile civil citations began here 17 years ago.
Also, all the key players needed to
make such a move in the county are
on board, particularly State Attorney
Willie Meggs, Sheriff Larry Campbell
and Tallahassee Police Chief Dennis
Jones.
Civil citations for juveniles were also a success in Miami-Dade County,
where Wansley Walters, now secreSee TICKETS, Page A2

ed by the 900-mile-wide weather
system.
“We are here for you, and we
will not forget,” Obama said. “We
will follow up to make sure you
get all the help you need until you
rebuild.
“I don’t want anybody to feel
that somehow this is all going to
get cleaned up overnight,” Obama
said. “But what I can promise you
is that the federal government will
be working as closely as possible
with the state and local officials,
and we will not quit until this is
done.”
Christie has been a vocal supporter of Romney. However,
Christie has praised the president
for his overseeing of federal emergency efforts.

No gag order; trial set in Trayvon case
COMPILED FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Here’s an update of events related to
the Trayvon Martin murder case:
• George Zimmerman’s defense lawyer can continue his controversial social
media and public relations strategy, a
judge ruled Monday.
• Prosecutors handling the seconddegree murder charge against Zimmerman requested the gag order because of
what they believed was a campaign by
the defense to taint the jury.
• Seminole County Circuit Judge Debra Nelson decided against issuing the
gag order in the high-profile murder
case, saying that there was no evidence
of “an overriding pattern of prejudicial

commentary that will overcome reasonable efforts to select a fair and impartial
jury.”
• Duval County Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda argued that defense lawyer Mark O’Mara had repeatedly broken accepted Florida Bar rules
regarding what an attorney can say and
about what. O’Mara, he said, has commented publicly on evidence, the credibility of witnesses and even his own client.
The two sides faced off during a 2
1/2-hour hearing Friday before Nelson
at the Seminole County courthouse in
Sanford.
The Miami Herald, the Orlando SenSee TRIAL, Page A2

TICKETS
from A1
tary of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice,
was then the director of juvenile services. DJJ reports
that in 2009-2010, roughly
7,000 young people statewide went through the civil citation process, with just
7 percent re-offending. In
comparison, one-third of
adults released from Florida prisons re-offend within
three years.

Large reduction
According to a January
2011 report by the Associated Industries of Florida
Foundation, the success of
the juvenile diversion programs in Leon and MiamiDade “suggested that the
number of juveniles processed through the system
could be reduced by 40 percent through diversion.”
With juveniles, the nonviolent offenses that qualify
them for civil citations usually involve petty theft or
marijuana, said Tallahassee
Police’s Chief Jones.
Asked if leaving such decisions to the discretion of
law enforcement officers is
wise, Campbell and Jones
said that’s how the system
works now.
“We do that every day,”
said Campbell. “Half of law

OBAMA
from A1
leased Wednesday gave
Obama 50 percent and
Romney 45 percent in Ohio,
a state without which a Republican has ever won the
White House. Obama led
by six to 10 points in earlier CBS/Times/Quinnipiac polls.
In Florida, Obama had
a one-point advantage, 48
percent to 47 percent, after leading by nine points

WALTER MICHOT/MIAMI HERALD/MCT

Police arrest a man on March 30, 2005, who crossed
onto the grounds of the hospice in Pinellas Park, Fla.,
where Terri Schiavo was living.
enforcement is discretion.”
“This program is designed for the lesser offenses…The attitude of the offender may have something
to do with it,” said Jones.
“Arrests should be our last
tool, regardless.”

‘Scared straight’
The “smart justice” coalition’s plan for Leon requires
adult offenders to undergo an assessment within 72
hours, perform at least 25
hours of community service, undergo treatment for
contributing factors such as
drug abuse, theft or gambling – and pay all costs of
the program.
Those who fail to meet
the conditions face arrest,
but clearly the great majority of juvenile offenders have
a month earlier. His 49 percent to 47 percent edge in
Virginia is less than half the
five-point spread found in a
poll earlier last month.
“After being subjected
to what seems like a zillion dollars’ worth of television ads and personal attention from the two candidates reminiscent of a
high-school crush, the key
swing states of Florida and
Virginia are too close to call
with the election only days
away,” said Peter A. Brown,
assistant director of the
Quinnipiac Polling Institute
in Hamden, Ct.

been scared straight.
“They’re held accountable,” said Tom Olk, executive director of DISC Village, who has spear-headed
the plan to extend civil citations to adults.

‘Minor mistake’
Proponents of the plan
say public safety is well
served by diverting scarce
resources from offenders
who don’t need to be behind bars – and targeting
dangerously violent felons
instead.
“Someone who has made
a made a minor mistake
won’t be put in with a hardened criminal,” said Campbell.
Reducing the nightly
number of inmates in the
county jail – now about

First lady in Florida
Obama was to return
to campaigning Thursday
with events in Green Bay,
Wis., Las Vegas and Boulder, Colo.
Romney scheduled stops
in some of the most populous parts of Florida, with
rallies planned in Jacksonville and Coral Gables in the
Miami area on Wednesday.
The Obama campaign
dispatched Biden to play defense in Florida on Wednesday, with stops in the smaller, more conservative markets of Sarasota and Oca-

1,000 in Leon County –
would reduce costs on everything from mandatory
medical screening to laundry, Campbell said.
The coalition hopes to
take the approach statewide
soon. Existing rules adopted by the Florida Supreme
Court provide the authority
for it, but local circuit courts
have to be involved, too.
“We’ve been working on
this project on a statewide
basis for several years and
are finally getting some
traction,” said Olk. “We
just happen to be the first.
I know that there are other
circuits that hope to come
online in the next couple of
months. They’re watching
us closely…I can honestly
say they don’t have the level
of cooperation and support
that we do [in Leon]. But
we’ve always had it here.”

Some disagree
Olk acknowledged that
while Leon and MiamiDade have long assimilated
juvenile civil citations, not
all counties agree.
“There are still areas of
the state where they don’t
(the idea for juveniles), and
I’m sure they’re not going to
like adult civil citation,” he
said. But he predicted the
data would prove his case.
“What does it cost? Is it
effective?” Olk asked. “Once
we have that data, we think
it’ll spread like wildfire.”
la aimed at narrowing the
margin where Republicans
usually fare well.
The first lady, meanwhile,
was to head to Florida on
Thursday, where singer Stevie Wonder was to perform
at a rally in Jacksonville and
singer Marc Anthony was
to deliver remarks and introduce the first lady at
events in Miami and Daytona Beach.

The Associated Press
and MCT were used in
compiling this report.

TRIAL
from A1
tinel and other media
companies fought back
against the gag order,
saying the prosecutor
did not present enough
evidence to prove it was
necessary.
“Judge Nelson recognized that gag orders can be used only
as a last resort if there
is no other way to make
sure there will be an impartial jury,” said Scott
Ponce, an attorney for
The Miami Herald and
other media companies. “Judges have a lot
of tools they can use to
make sure jurors are impartial, and Judge Nelson is going to use those
tools instead entering of
a gag order.”
The judge added that
she ruled on the order
“without
prejudice,”
meaning the lawyers
can file more motions
on the issue in the future. It was the second
time de la Rionda asked
for a gag order.
O’Mara is an Orlando criminal defense
lawyer who launched a
novel public relations
strategy, which included a website dedicated
just to that case and a
Twitter account. A Facebook page was abandoned when it quickly
devolved into bickering among users. He has
held occasional press
conferences and given
both national and local
TV and newspaper interviews.
O’Mara said he turned
to social media to turn
around an onslaught of
negative publicity that
preceded Zimmerman’s
arrest. An employee
does the bulk of his social media and website
announcements.
Trayvon Martin, 17,
was in Sanford on Feb.
26. Martin encountered

Zimmerman on the
way back from a convenience store. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer,
stopped Martin, words
were exchanged, then
Zimmerman shot Martin in what he claimed
was self-defense.
Florida’s “Stand Your
Ground” law allows
people to use force if
they reasonably believe
it is needed to defend
themselves or others.
Zimmerman’s attorneys
intend to use the law to
justify Martin’s death.
The trial is tentatively
set for June 10, 2013. In
a separate ruling, Nelson said prosecutors
will not have access to
Zimmerman’s medical
records from before the
February shooting.

‘Stand Your
Ground’ clarified
On Monday, a Central
Florida appeals court
ruled that a Haines City
police officer cannot use
“Stand Your Ground” to
defend himself against a
misdemeanor charge of
using unnecessary force
during an altercation in
October 2010.
The Second District
Court of Appeal on Friday said the case involving Juan Caamano is the
first to directly address
whether “Stand Your
Ground” applies to law
enforcement officers.
A three-judge panel overturned a circuit
court ruling that would
have allowed Caamano
to use the law in his defense to a misdemeanor battery charge. The
court said another more
stringent law applies to
cases dealing with use
of force by law officers.

Frances Robles of the
Miami Herald / MCT,
and the News Service
of Florida contributed
to this report.

Adora Obi Nweze
President, Florida State Conference NAACP
The Florida State Conference of the
NAACP recommends that Floridians vote NO
on all of the Legislature’s proposed Amendments and YES to retain all Supreme Court
Justices.
This election is one of the most important
elections of our lifetime. We will be electing
a President. We know that this is serious
business for the world, for our country and
– because of likely appointments to the U.S.
Supreme Court – for our future.
But in this election, Florida voters need to
vote to protect their rights from the powergrabbing Florida Legislature. They are the
ones who overloaded our ballot with 11
proposed constitutional amendments that
threaten our rights.
The Florida State Conference NAACP
urges you to Vote No on all 11 constitutional
amendments.
The first proposed amendment is a symbolic attack on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as ObamaCare. Florida, with the second highest number

of citizens in the country without health
insurance, has a Legislature that prefers to
hoist the banner of “States’ rights” and pretend that we can opt-out of federal law.
Politicians can’t exempt our state from the
expansion of health insurance -- and more
importantly it’s shameful that they want to
leave our citizens unprotected! The NAACP
is a strong supporter of the Affordable Care
Act and recommends the immediate implementation of its components to provide quality and affordable healthcare to all Floridians.
Amendments 2,3,4,9,10 and 11 could
cripple our local communities, limiting funds
local governments can raise – and once
these limitations are put in the State Constitution, they will be difficult to ever remove.
Fewer dollars for local governments mean
reduced funds for programs our communities
need: police officers, firefighters, emergency
responders, neighborhood public schools,
public transportation, libraries, parks, and
everything else that affects the quality of our
lives and the lives of our children.
Amendment 6 would mean privacy for
everyone, except women. It is an attempt
by the Governor and the Florida Legislature
to control the reproductive rights of women.
These are personal matters in which government does not have the right to intervene.
The Legislature is trying to trick voters with
Amendment 8. They call it “religious freedom,” but it really undermines the principle of
“Separation of Church and State” by allowing the government to send our tax dollars
to any church, sect, or religious organization
they choose.
If this Amendment passes, public schools
could be even more severely underfunded
than they already are as the Legislature
paves the way to re-introduce vouchers into
our public schools. The NAACP does not
support education vouchers and has deter-

mined that the public school system is the
best vehicle to ensure education equality.
The League of Women Voters has determined that local governments would lose
$1.1 billion in revenues for needed services
in the first three years of Amendments
2,3,4,9,10 and 11. At the same time, the
Legislature is asking voters for permission
to send tax dollars to religious organizations
with no oversight or accountability for how
those dollars are spent. We need to vote NO
on all these schemes.
We must also protect our Courts. Please,
let’s not let the far-right get away with its last
minute, well-funded attack on three of our
Supreme Court Justices – Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince.
These Justices have each stood on their
records in previous elections and they have
each been deemed worthy of retention.
What is different now to justify opening the
floodgates for out-of-state right-wing money
to mount a last minute campaign against our
Supreme Court Justices? Nothing
They angered the right-wing by striking
from the 2010 ballot a misleading amendment that attacked the Affordable Health
Care Act (it’s back now as Amendment 1),
and they struck down the legislature’s attempt to undermine the redistricting amendments that the voters put on the ballot and
approved. These Justices have done their
job, and now they are being targeted.
As Floridians, we know maybe more than
other folks around the country, the value of
each vote. We know close elections here
in Florida. Please vote, and get your family
and friends to vote.
Remember, vote the entire ballot – to reject
all of the dangerous constitutional amendments and to retain our three Supreme Court
Justices who are under attack from the farright.

november 2 - november 8, 2012

ELECTION 2012

A3

TAKE THIS PAGE TO THE
POLLS WITH YOU!
Everything you need to know about voting in the November 2012 election is
on the front and back of this page, including a sample ballot of Florida Courier’s
recommendations for president, judicial retention, and constitutional amendments.
On the back of this page are information on your rights as a voter, election myths
vs. facts, absentee and provisional voting procedures, and contacts for your local
Supervisor of Elections.

VOTER’S BILL
OF RIGHTS

What to
BRING PHOTO
expect at IDENTIFICATION!
order to vote at the polls during early voting or
the polls onInElection
Day, you must show a photo and signa-

Each registered voter in Florida
has the right to:
1. Vote and have his or her vote
accurately counted.
2. Cast a vote if he or she is in line
at the official closing of the polls in
that county.
3. Ask for and receive assistance
in voting.
4. Receive up to two replacement ballots if he or she makes a mistake prior to
the ballot being cast.
5. Demand an explanation if his or
her registration or identity is in question.
6. Cast a provisional ballot if his or her
registration or identity is in question.

7. Receive written instructions
to use when voting, and, upon request, oral instructions in voting
from elections officers.
8. Vote free from coercion or intimidation by elections officers or
any other person.
9. Vote on a voting system that is
in working condition and that will
allow votes to be accurately cast.

Polls will be open on Election Day, Nov. 6, from 7 a.m.
until 7 p.m. local time. Contact your Supervisor of Elections, listed on Page A4, for
early voting hours, which
may vary between early voting sites.
To determine your polling place, check your voter
information card or contact
your Supervisor of Elections. You may also find
your polling place on http://
elections.myflorida.com,
through the online voter
lookup, or on your Supervisor of Elections’ website.

ture identification. Acceptable forms of photo identification include a Florida driver license; a Florida
identification card issued by the Department of
Highway, Safety and Motor Vehicles; a United States
passport; a debit or credit card; a military identification; a student identification; a retirement center
identification; a neighborhood association identification; or a public assistance identification.
If your photo identification does not contain your
signature, you will be required to show an additional
form of identification that provides your signature.
Once your identity has been established, you will
be asked to sign the precinct register or electronic
device (or during early voting, the early voting ballot
certificate) and then you will be allowed to vote. If
you need assistance in marking your ballot, inform
the poll worker.
If you make a mistake when voting on a paper ballot, ask for a replacement. You may receive up to two
replacements, or a total of three ballots.

ELECTION 2012

A4

ELECTION MYTHS
VS. FACTS
• MYTH: Voters will be turned away if they are
wearing campaign apparel.
• FACT: Under Florida rules, “Voters may wear
campaign buttons, shirts, hats, or any other campaign items when they enter the polling place to
vote; voters may not otherwise campaign there.”
Merely going to the polls wearing campaign
paraphernalia is OK, but under Florida law, one
cannot solicit voters within 100 foot of the entrance to any polling place.

•••

• MYTH: The address on the driver license
must match the address in the voter registration
record in order to be able to vote.
• FACT: The address on the driver license does
not need to match the address in the voter registration record. If you have moved and haven’t
changed your driver license to reflect your new
address, that’s okay. What is important is that
you vote in the precinct where you currently live,
no matter what your driver license says.

•••

• MYTH: If your house is under foreclosure,
you will not be able to vote.
• FACT: A foreclosure notice does not necessarily mean that a person no longer resides in
the home, as people often remain in the home
after foreclosure begins and are sometimes able
to refinance the home. Voters whose homes have
been foreclosed but who remain in their homes
may continue to vote in their assigned precinct.
Voters who have physically moved from their
foreclosed residence with no intention of returning to that address as their residence may still
vote, but should provide a change of address to
your Supervisor of Elections office listed below.
You must vote in your correct precinct.

•••

• MYTH: If you are Florida college student,
you have to change your permanent residence to
your college address.
• FACT: If a college student registers with a legal residence in a Florida county, then no further proof of residency is required, regardless
of where the college student’s parents reside or
whether the student intends to move back to
where the parents are located.

•••

• MYTH: Provisional ballots are only counted
when there is a close race.
• FACT: A provisional ballot is always counted
when the voter is shown to be registered and eligible, regardless of the closeness of the outcome
of the election. A person who votes provisionally simply because he or she forgot ID at the polls
will not have to do anything else. If the signatures
on that ballot certificate and the voter roll matches, the provisional ballot is counted.

•••

• MYTH: Absentee ballots are only counted
when there is a close race.
• FACT: All absentee ballots are counted if they
are properly filled out and signed by the voter.

•••

• MYTH: If a voter owes child support or has
pending warrants against him or her, the police
will arrest the voter at the polls.
• FACT: The voter registration rolls at the polls
have no indicators whether a voter owes child
support or has outstanding warrants against him
or her. Furthermore, law enforcement personnel
are not allowed in the polling place without the
permission of the election board, so ordinarily
there will be not be any law enforcement personnel in the polling place to identify a voter who
may have outstanding child support payments
due or warrants against him or her.

•••

• MYTH: If the voter is homeless and has no legal residence, the voter may not vote.
• FACT: State registration laws may not discriminate against the homeless in voter registration as long as the homeless applicant for voter
registration intends to remain in a locale and has
either a place where he can receive messages or
an effective mailing address. The homeless person will vote in the precinct where the applicant
receives messages (e.g., a rescue mission, homeless shelter, etc.) or the precinct in which the applicant‘s effective mailing address is located.

NOVEMBER 2 - NOVEMBER 8, 2012

DO YOU WANT TO
CAST AN ABSENTEE
BALLOT?
Absentee voting refers to voting on a ballot received
by mail or picked up by or for a person who is unable
or cannot go to the polls to vote during early voting or
Election Day. Contact your Supervisor of Elections to
request an absentee ballot.
How to request an absentee ballot
You must request your absentee ballot directly
from the Supervisor of Elections online, by written
request, in person, by telephone, or by mail. The request can be made by you or if directly instructed to
do so, an immediate family member or legal guardian
on your behalf.
When a request is made, it must include the name
of the voter for whom the ballot is being requested;
the voter’s address; the voter’s date of birth; and the
voter’s signature (if the request is written). If a member of your immediate family or legal guardian is requesting an absentee ballot for you, required information includes the requestor’s address and driver’s
license number (if available); the requestor’s relationship to the voter; and the requestor’s signature (if
the request is written).
A request to receive an absentee ballot by mail
must be received by the Supervisor of Elections no
later than 5 p.m. on Oct. 31, 2012. Otherwise, you
can obtain an absentee ballot up until and including
Election Day. However, it must still be returned by no
later than 7 p.m. on Election Day if the voted ballot is
to count.
Who can pick up an absentee ballot?
The voter may pick up an absentee ballot before
Nov. 1, 2012 or on Election Day, Nov. 6. The voter may

also designate someone else to pick up the ballot for
him or her. A designee may only pick up 2 absentee
ballots per election (other than his or her own ballot
and ballots for members of his or her immediate family). The designee must submit a completed Affidavit
to Pick Up an Absentee Ballot that includes the written authorization from the voter. If the voter did not
already request a ballot, the Affidavit must be accompanied by a request.
How to vote using an absentee ballot
After you mark your ballot, the Supervisor of Elections must receive it no later than 7 p.m. on Election
Day, Nov. 6. Other options are available for military
members and their families who are absent from
their county of residence due to active duty, and for
overseas civilians.
Do not return the marked ballot to a polling place
except if you decide you want or are able to vote in
your precinct on Election Day. In that case, you must
take the absentee ballot with you to the polls (whether it has been marked or not). Even if you come to the
polls without your absentee ballot, you will still be
able to vote a regular ballot if the Supervisor of Elections’ office is able to confirm that it has not received
your absentee ballot. However, if it is confirmed that
you have already voted an absentee ballot, you cannot vote again at the polls.
If you think the Supervisor of Elections’ office is
wrong about receiving your absentee ballot or if the
Supervisor of Elections’ office cannot confirm that
you have already voted an absentee ballot, you will be
allowed to vote a provisional ballot.
How to track your absentee ballot request and your returned ballot
Any voter who has requested an absentee ballot
can track online the status of his or her absentee ballot. You can either link through the Division of Elections’ Voter Information Lookup at www.elections.
myflorida.com or through your Supervisor of Elections’ website listed below.

WHAT IF YOU VOTE
A PROVISIONAL
BALLOT?
If you end up voting a provisional ballot, regardless
of the reason, you must be given a written notice of
rights that includes:
1. A statement that you have the right to bring further evidence (if you choose) of your eligibility to the
Supervisor of Elections. You have until 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8, to do so.
2. A statement that if you voted a provisional ballot
solely because you did not bring in identification, you
do not have to bring in further evidence of eligibility. The local canvassing board will count your ballot
if you voted in the right precinct and the signature on
the provisional ballot certificate matches the signature on the voter registration record.

HOW TO REPORT
ELECTION LAW
VIOLATIONS
Report violations in writing to the Division of Elections, Room 316, R.A. Gray Building, 500 S. Bronough
Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1050, 850-2456200. Complaint forms are available on the Division
of Elections’ website at: http://election.dos.state.
fl.us/voting/index.shtml. You can also call the Voter
Fraud Hotline at 1-877-VOTERFRAUD.
Report violations relating to campaign financing,
candidates, committees, or other political activities by sworn written complaint to the Florida Elections Commission, Suite 224 Collins Building, 107
West Gaines Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1050,
phone 850-922-4539.

3. A statement that if you voted a provisional ballot because your personal identifying number could
not be verified. You can provide in person or by copy
through fax, e-mail, or mail a copy of the card with
the identifying number to the Supervisor of Elections
before 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8.
4. Instructions on how you can find out after the
election if your provisional ballot was counted, and if
not, the reason(s) why.

By now, Barack Obama
is the clear choice
Many Americans have already
gone to the polls. Others will go
soon to make a collective decision
that will determine the direction
of this country for the next halfcentury or more. From where I sit,
the choice could not be clearer.
President Barack Obama’s positions have been firmly rooted in
fairness and opportunity. Middleclass and small business tax cuts,
development of manufacturing
jobs, huge investments in education, infrastructure, and employment re-training to prepare our
workers for a new generation of
jobs support his ideal of growth
from the middle.
First Lady Michelle Obama said
it best. “When you walk through
the door of opportunity, you leave
it open for those who follow.”

Questions about Romney
Questions surrounding Romney’s own taxes highlight concerns that his only interest is to
“redistribute” more money from
the working-class to the wealthy.
After all, he has said that 47 percent of Americans are unwilling to
take personal responsibility and
don’t deserve the benefits they receive. He’s told us how he “enjoys

Dr. E. Faye
Williams,
Esq.
TRICE EDNEY WIRE

firing people,” how we should’ve
“let Detroit go bankrupt,” and that
“corporations are people.”
The health of Americans, specifically women, has been an
emphasis of the president’s first
term. “Obamacare” answers
questions of public health that
have been asked for over a century and achieves a goal presidents
have tried to reach for over fifty
years. President Obama created
a comprehensive program that’ll
increase delivery while lowering
costs of care, and we women have
greater control over our bodies.
Although his Massachusetts
health plan is a near duplicate of
Obamacare, Romney’s current
prescription for the ill American
is to go “to the emergency room.”
He suggests protections for those
with pre-existing conditions, but
we learn that unless people maintain uninterrupted insurance they
are not eligible.
When President Obama came

Why I’m not voting
for Barack Obama
Most polling indicates that Barack Obama may win an Electoral College victory. If the past four
years are any indication, that victory will do little to help the millions of people who put Obama in
office.
His claims of success are either dubious or obviously harmful for people in this country and
around the world. The health care
plan is a great unknown – not the
Medicare for all that we need –
but a bailout of the private insurance companies who have created the health care crisis in the first
place.
The war in Iraq which Obama
brags about ending would have
ended no matter who was in office
because George W. Bush signed
an agreement mandating the departure of most combat troops.
And Obama has used the Federal Reserve to bail out the banks to
the tune of $16 trillion.

MARGARET
KIMBERLEY
BLACK AGENDA REPORT

Would it be bad?
The three presidential debates
between Obama and Mitt Romney showed more agreement
than disagreement about Social
Security and on crushing the Iranian economy or killing people
with drones. Given this degree of
collusion, why would it be so terrible if Obama lost?
His supporters argue that the
end is near if Mitt Romney is inaugurated in January 2013. They
point out that he would overturn
Roe v. Wade and appoint conservatives to the federal judiciary. He has said that he will repeal
the Obama health care plan, but

EDITORIAL

A5

VISUAL VIEWPOINT:
THE FLORIDA VOTE

into office, he was faced with two
unfinanced war. The president
has fulfilled his promise to end
our involvement in the war in Iraq
and has pledged to withdraw our
forces from Afghanistan by 2014.
He has eliminated the threat of
Osama Bin Laden and many of
his supporters to the world.
For years, Romney sat on the
sidelines and condemned the
president for “telegraphing” our
military withdrawals – first from
Iraq and now from Afghanistan.
He has simultaneously advocated greater and then lesser US military involvement in the Middle
JEFF PARKER, FLORIDA TODAY AND THE FORT MYERS NEWS-PRESS
East, and has even suggested preemptive armed conflict with Iran.
The war-weary American spir- himself more palatable by mis- founded animus toward our presit and shrinking treasury should representing his philosophies of ident rather than an appreciation
governance. He’s saying whatever for Romney.
fear this saber-rattling.
The choice that is so clear is that
he feels is necessary to win.
Life’s experiences have gener- we can choose the radical uncerChanges course
tainty of a known prevaricator or
It’s obvious the Romney team ally shown me that most people we can continue our movement
place
a
great
value
on
truth
and
has begun to understand the
FORWARD.
aversion of the uncommitted vot- consistency. We select friends
and
close
associates
on
those
er to his ultraconservative views.
Dr. E. Faye Williams is naIn these few days before the elec- qualities and the selection of our tional chair of the Nationtion, Romney is engaging in, as elected representatives usually al Congress of Black Women,
President Obama said in the last follows suit.
Inc. Contact her via www.naThe reasons for Romney’s lev- tionalcongressbw.org. Click on
debate, “airbrushing” history by
moderating his previously stat- el of popularity, despite his many this story at www.flcourier.com
ed positions. He’s trying to make misrepresentations, suggests un- to write your own response.
the benefits of Obamacare are un- Why vote?
known and it isn‘t clear what sort
Progressives are protecting less
of repeal Romney would enact and less with each election cycle.
when he pushed through a nearly The winner-take-all electoral sysidentical plan in Massachusetts.
tem makes other parties irrelevant and relegates them to spoiler
Liberals go along
status, but the argument against
It is a lack of progressive activ- supporting them is weaker as the
ism that has precipitated this cri- system deteriorates. The argusis. In the absence of strong and ment that voting changes nothing
coordinated opposition to Demo- for the average person is a valid
cratic Party duplicity, progressives one, and the sight of Romney and
meekly go along with whatever Obama declaring agreement on
bad deals are presented to them the issues of empire and finance
and then recoil in fear every four makes that point quite clearly.
years when they are told that the
We are left with a plea to honor
barbarians are at the gate. Repub- the memories of those who sacrilicans only help make the case for ficed, sometimes with their lives,
this complicity with openly racist during the freedom struggles of
and misogynistic policies.
the 1960s. But those people fought
The ever-rightward moving shift and died for full citizenship rights,
of the Democrats has brought us of which voting was just a part. No
to this juncture, where we are told one today should worry about
to fear Republicans who are more dishonoring or dismissing their
radical on social issues precisely sacrifice by refusing to take part
because the Democrats have cop- in the farce that national elections
ied them in every other aspect. If have now become.
Democrats also believe in wars of
Some who claim to be leftists
aggression and bailouts and sub- argue against particular Obama
servience to finance capital, Re- policies only to conclude at elecpublicans are only left with abor- tion time that he should be electtion and gay marriage as issues to ed anyway. These people undifferentiate themselves.
dercut their own arguments and

Budget woes await winner
of presidential election
No matter who wins the November 6 election, he will have a mess on his hands.
DR.
The Budget Control Act of 2011 will cut
$109 billion from the federal budget in 2013
JULIANNE
unless Congress is able to figure out how
MALVEAUX
to either reduce the deficit or cut another
TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM
deal. The cuts will range from 7 to 9 percent,
and they’ll hit everything – Pell Grants, housthey haven’t done before.
ing, employment services, and defense.
Republicans don’t want to raise taxes,
which is one way to avoid the sequestraStarts next year
tion trap. Democrats don’t want to cut vital
Already, some government contractors are social programs. The bottom line is we get
cutting back in anticipation of what is called more money either by increasing taxes or
“sequestration.” The deficit reduction secutting programs. We can’t increase taxes on
quester – a result of the failure to enact legthe already beleaguered middle class, and
islation that reduces the budget deficit by at
the poor don’t have a penny to spare. That
least $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years – is
scheduled to begin in January. It will affect leaves the wealthy, but they are the sacred
all non-exempt federal programs, with equal cows of the Republican Party. Cutting social
savings coming from defense spending and programs hurts those who have already been
from non-defense spending, according to the hurt. Congress has a dilemma.
Sequestration will cost jobs, both in the
House Budget Committee.
federal
government and in companies that
Congress pushed itself into sequestration in 2011 when our nation’s credit rat- contract with the federal government. Our
ing slipped because our leaders failed to extremely weak recovery cannot sustain
pass a budget. In a showdown with Presi- more job losses.
dent Obama, Congress stepped all the way
out on the cliff that we are now poised to fall Wealth gap
off. Rather than making reasoned decisions
Congress, with a median wealth of $750,000
about cuts, the notion of something auto- (excluding the value of their homes), canmatic was supposed to scare everyone into not fathom the lives of ordinary human besanity. The last year, however, has reminded ings. With median wealth of about $20,000,
us that few who make public policy are sane. including home ownership, their lives are a
Most economists are clear that cutting far cry from those of their elected represenspending during a recession or its weak re- tatives. The gap, perhaps, explains why the
covery makes no sense. Deficit notwith- American Jobs Act has not yet been passed
standing, taking money out of the economy after languishing in Congress for nearly a
is a prescription for disaster. We have only year.
just climbed out of a recession, but recovSequestration is one of the most imporery is not assured. We face the possibility of a tant immediate issues that our nation faces.
double-dip recession by withdrawing money Across the board cuts hit more heavily at the
from the economy.
bottom than at the top, and those who are already suffering will find themselves suffering
Is it unavoidable?
more. Yet both candidates have been mostly
One of the biggest challenges in avoiding silent on this matter.
What happens after November 6? Wheththe sequester is the fact that the Congress
that will convene to attempt to make a deal er President Obama or Willard Romney wins,
in a “lame-duck” Congress. Some will lose hard choices must be made.
their jobs as of January, but they still have the
Julianne Malveaux is a Washington,
opportunity to pass laws between November and January. They have nothing to lose D.C.-based economist and writer. Click on
by continuing their obduracy, and they have this story at www.flcourier.com to write
few incentives to compromise, something your own response.

make a mockery of themselves.
Their pleas to stop surveillance
or drone assassinations or the destruction of nations such as Libya and Syria become hollow because they refuse to acknowledge
the corruption that is an integral
part of the system.

Phony concern
Hand-wringing about a Romney victory is mostly phony, and
geared to keep progressives silent
in the face of each new assault.
Obama may win after all, but it
shouldn’t be because people who
claim to be on the left are complicit and a party to his wrongdoing.
On November 6, it is perfectly
acceptable, morally right, and politically principled to boycott the
election or to vote for a party other than the Democrats.

Margaret Kimberley’s column
appears weekly in BlackAgendaReport.com. Contact her at
Margaret.Kimberley@BlackAgendaReport.com. Click on this
story at www.flcourier.com to
write your own response.

Electioneering stunt
shortchanges churches
Every year, on the Sunday before the
U.S. Supreme Court convenes its fall
term, many justices of the court go to St.
Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
to celebrate the “Red Mass.” A centuriesold tradition that originated in Europe,
this special religious service allows judges to seek guidance from the Holy Spirit.
This year on the following Sunday during religious services across America,
clergy put themselves and their membership in the government’s crosshairs
in hopes of creating a case that might put
them in front of those justices.

IRS defied
October 7 was a “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” where hundreds of clergy openly defied a nearly 60-year-old IRS rule –
originally crafted by Lyndon Baines Johnson – banning clergy from discussing political candidates during services. Opponents of the rule are openly challenging it. They want to be penalized so they
can challenge the constitutionality of the
rule.
Before entering full-time ministry, I
earned my crusts of bread working and
commenting on political issues as well as
lobbying. I still enjoy politics as a private
citizen, but I was happy to shed the 24/7
political life for the fulfilling vocation I
now enjoy.
I don’t understand why my fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ want
to use their precious pulpit time to talk
about Caesar rather than God.
In the synoptic gospels of the Bible,
Jesus said – when discussing taxes with
some Pharisees and Herodians – that
they must render unto Caesar the things
that are Caesars; and unto God, the things
that are God’s.
For two millennia, Christians have
claimed to understand precisely what
Christ was talking about. Whether it is our
original Puritan forefathers or those fleeing to America to escape modern persecution, the church has largely remained a
sanctuary from the secular world.

ARCHBISHOP
COUNCIL NEDD II
PROJECT 21

church is supposed to be free from the
secular noise – where one can commune
with God. It is the job of the clergy to protect that safe haven. Pastors who would
willingly throw the door open to the
wolves – and even do the bidding of the
wolves – should rethink their calling.
Why put a congregation at risk? In all
the previous “Pulpit Freedom Sunday”
events, the IRS never took the bait. After all, the rule pertains to electioneering and not talking about even the most
divisive social/political issues such as
abortion, education and the definition of
marriage. It’s still legal to talk about the
issues – just not the candidates.
Jesus taught that Christian leadership
should be different from worldly concepts of leadership. But many Christian
leaders have yielded their God-given authority to pollsters, politicians and public
relations experts.

Community needs
In this world of declining moral standards and an absence of religious obligations, where fewer people are lifting
their hearts and minds up to God, clergy
should be preoccupied with dealing with
the immediate needs of the community
instead of who’s in the mayor’s office, the
state capital or Washington, D.C.
If the justices of the Supreme Court
seek guidance from the Holy Spirit, clergy can always be there – uncorrupted by
partisan politics – to assist them in that
process. They need not also serve at polling places.

Archbishop Council Nedd II is a
member of the national advisory council of the Project 21 Black leadership
network. Contact him via Project21@
nationalcenter.org. Click on this sto‘Free from noise’
ry at www.flcourier.com to write your
For an hour or so out of a hectic week, own response.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – For
the second time during the
presidential campaign, a
group of African-American ministers in North Carolina has criticized Franklin Graham for challenging
the spiritual beliefs of President Barack Obama, accusing the evangelist Monday of
promoting a narrow form of
Christianity that supports a
politically conservative point
of view.
Meeting in Charlotte, the
group read an open letter to
Graham that comes in response to a series of full-page
ads that bear a photograph of
his father, Billy Graham, and
ask voters to elect candidates
who support “biblical principles.”
In comments to The Charlotte Observer last week, Graham said his 93-year-old father supported the message,
which endorses candidates
who support the nation of
Israel, “the sanctity of life”
and “the biblical definition of
marriage.”

Backs Romney
Franklin Graham went on
to say that Obama’s support
for gay marriage and abortion rights challenges “God’s
standard” and says, “it’s OK
for people to sin.”
He said he has cast an early ballot for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, whose positions “are
more in line with the moral teachings that I believe
in.” During a meeting this
month at his home in Montreat, N.C., the elder Graham
offered to help Romney “ any
way I can.”
State NAACP President
William Barber accused
Graham of “being seduced
by the sirens of money and
power,” and of “cherry-picking the easy parts of Christianity” that serve his partisan
politics. In doing so, Barber

Franklin
Graham, left,
escorts his
father Billy
Graham prior
to the funeral
for Billy’s wife
Ruth Graham
in North Carolina in 2007.

said, Graham has ignored the
broader messages of the Bible to help the poor, feed the
hungry and treat the sick.

‘Hollow at best’
“These texts, Brother Graham, are so primary to our
faith tradition but so secondary in your critique,” Barber
said, surrounded by more
than a dozen
other ministers. Why do
some Christian conservatives “say
so little about
what
God
says so much,
Rev. William and so much
about what
Barber
God says so
little? To exclude this focus and try to
make a claim of concern for
Christian values is hollow at
best and heretical at worst.”
Franklin Graham was returning from a trip to Africa, and was not available for
comment. But in a statement
Monday night, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
said it regretted “that some
members of the NAACP find
issue with the recent ads.”
The ads deal with “biblical
values” that Graham has addressed, the statement said.
“Certainly there are any
number of topics about
which other individuals and
organizations in this country
feel strongly and may prefer
to discuss. We respect their
right to use their voices and
public forums to do so.” Barber said the press conference
was not an endorsement
of Obama, but a call to use
broader,
spiritually-based
criteria than the one used by
the Grahams to evaluate candidates.

so-called religious cults on its
website that included Mormonism. Romney is a lifelong
Mormon.
Graham said last week that
he didn’t know that the list
existed and said it was not in
keeping with the mission of
the Graham organization. In
addition, he authored a column in the current edition
of the association’s Decision
magazine saying it is OK for
Christians to vote for a Mormon candidate.
The cover of the November
issue arriving in the mail has
campaign buttons that say
“Pray” and “Vote,” along with
this message. “Take a Stand
for Biblical Values on Nov. 6.”
Graham also heads Samaritan’s Purse, a relief agency that responds to disasters
worldwide. Its website says
the agency plans to offer help
in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, now pummeling the East
Coast.

‘Morally bankrupt’
As with Barber, Moss spoke
directly to Graham.
“We have nothing against
the Mormons. This country was founded on religious
freedom, and we uphold
those freedoms,” said Moss,
who revealed an Obama Tshirt to his congregation during his Sunday sermon. “But
to change your mind for political expediency lends you
hypocritical and morally
bankrupt.”

Barber was among a group
of ministers who met with
Franklin Graham this spring
after Graham, during an appearance on MSNBC, seemed
to question whether Obama
is a Christian or a Muslim. He
later apologized.
The tone of the Graham
political ads surprised historians and longtime Graham
watchers. One accused the
younger Graham of turning
his father into “a mouthpiece
of the religious right.” A series
of similar Graham ads appeared statewide in support
of a constitutional amendment restricting marriage to
a man and a woman.
Franklin Graham said his
father, who turns 94 the day
after the Nov. 6 election, had
approved both campaigns.
“Nobody kidnaps my Daddy
… his mind remains sharp
as a razor,” Franklin Graham
said.

‘Please cease’
In reading the open letter
to the son, however, Barber
raised the question of whether the father still speaks for
himself.
“If we are wrong, and your
dad in his latter years has
changed his view of a more
democratic, a more inclusive and a more loving world,
then let him tell us directly,”
Barber said.
“If you are misusing your
father’s legacy, then please
cease.”

DETROIT – Chrysler
CEO Sergio Marchionne said no U.S. production of Jeep vehicles will be moved
to China and that
U.S. production of
Jeeps “will constitute
the backbone of the
brand,” in an email to
employees five days
after Republican presidential candidate Mitt
Romney repeated a
false report that suggested Jeep production could be moved to
China.
Without citing Romney by name, Marchionne said Chrysler
remains committed to
“investing to improve
and expand our entire U.S. operations,
including our Jeep facilities,” according to
a company email obtained by the Detroit
Free Press.
“It is inaccurate to
suggest anything different,” Marchionne said.

Romney rumor
Romney, in a rally
Thursday in Ohio, said
he “saw a story today
that one of the great
manufacturers in this
state, Jeep, now owned
by the Italians, is thinking of moving all production to China.”
His campaign later
released a new TV ad
saying that Jeep would
make vehicles in China, but dropped the
claim that U.S. jobs
would be moved to
China.
Obama’s campaign

released its own ad attacking Romney for
his auto industry policies, including a 2008
New York Times op-ed
titled “Let Detroit Go
Bankrupt.”
In his company
email,
Marchionne
confirmed the company’s previous statements that it plans to
eventually restart vehicle production in China because the market
“would not otherwise
be accessible” without making vehicles
there. Chinese regulations make it very difficult to import foreign
vehicles.

Bolsters brand
“This ultimately will
help bolster the Jeep
brand, and solidify the
resilience of U.S. jobs,”
Marchionne said. “Jeep
is one of our truly global brands with uniquely American roots. This
will never change.”
Chrysler is investing $1.7 billion to produce the successor to
the Jeep Liberty sportutility vehicle, including a $500 million expansion with 1,100
jobs at a second shift
at the company’s assembly plant in Toledo, Ohio. The automaker has also added
2,000 jobs since June
2009 at its Jefferson
North Assembly plant
in Detroit, including a
third crew that started
last week.
Overall, Marchionne
said, the company has
hired more than 11,200
jobs in the U.S. since its
government-financed
bankruptcy reorganization in 2009.

“Voting YES on Amendment 8 will eliminate discrimination
against churches providing social services to help
the hungry, the homeless, and the helpless.”

Please vote YES on Amendment 8.
Recent court decisions are putting churches and other faith
groups who provide many valuable social services at risk.
Current language in the Florida constitution is being used to
threaten these groups from providing public services, simply
because they are faith-based.
Amendment 8 stops this religious discrimination once and
for all. Nothing more...nothing less. It simply means that Florida

government can continue to partner with faith-based groups,
as it has for decades, to provide critical community services like
homeless shelters, prison ministries, food pantries, and elder
care...services our most vulnerable Floridians rely upon everyday. Let’s stand up for them and for religious freedom!

q Keep a stash of cash or traveler’s checks at home where you can quickly get them in

case of evacuation.

q

Make sure your home is bolted to the foundation and the
structure is properly reinforced.

q

Make a family emergency plan

q

Identify a safe place in each room of your home and practice rapidly getting there.
Best locations include under a sturdy desk or table, or beside a sturdy, large piece of furniture such as a sofa or bed. Avoid doorways; doors could bang open and shut during a
storm.

Check the roof, foundation, chimney and walls for
cracks and overall condition. Contact trained contractors
in your area for information on retrofitting.

q

If you live in an apartment, know where your building’s utility
controls are and how to use them.

Educate your children. Get a copy of your school district’s disaster policy regarding
transportation and the release of students. Keep photos of family members in your wallet
in case someone is missing.

q Take a first-aid course. Learn CPR.
q Know where the nearest police and fire stations are. Know the route to the nearest

q

Strap your water heater (gas
and electric ones) to studs in the
wall with heavy-duty metal strips or
to the floor to prevent gas leaks and
possible fires from broken pipes. You can find strapping
kits at home-improvement stores.

Find out whether any neighbors have medical or other expertise. Plan to unite if
your neighborhood becomes isolated. Help elderly, disabled or single-parent neighbors
create an emergency plan. Get contact information for their relatives.
Fill in the spaces below and keep this page in a handy place.

Family members should know
how to shut off waterlines in case of
a leak in the house. Label the shutoff valve clearly; it’s the first valve in
the line after it enters the house.

Gas

q

All occupants should also
know how and when to turn off
the gas. If you smell gas after a
storm or other emergency, shut
off the meter valve found at the
first fitting on the supply pipe
coming out of the ground. Use
a wrench to turn the valve either way until it is perpendicular to the pipe. Keep a wrench
attached to the gas meter with
a wire. Call the gas company to
get service restored.

Buy a portable, gas-powered generator
for emergency electricity. Only appliances that
can use extension cords should be attached
to a generator. A 2200-watt unit can power a
refrigerator and several lamps. Keep fuel in a
safe, protected container.

q

Learn how to
shut off the electricOlder
ity: Turn off single
panel
breakers first, then
switch off the main
breaker. To turn back
on, switch the main
breaker first, then the
single breakers. On older panels, pull the main
fuse blocks.

Main
breaker

Newer
panel
Single
breakers

Household items

q

Place flashlights in hallways, bathrooms and bedrooms. Keep a flashlight,
spare batteries and sturdy shoes under the bed. (Shoes will protect you from broken glass and other debris on the floor.)

q

Evaluate each room. Secure appliances, bookshelves and hutches to wall
studs. Mirrors should be hung on double hooks; do not lean them against the wall.

q

Place heavy objects and electronic equipment on lower shelves. Use large
Velcro patches or nonskid rubber shelf liner to help keep items in place.

q

Place a beanbag of sand or shot in the bottom of vases and other breakable
items to help hold them down.

q Store household chemicals safely, preferably on or near the floor.
after an event

Check on everyone
• Provide first aid and a safe place for anyone
who is injured or very upset. Check on and help
neighbors.
• Call 911 or other emergency phone numbers
only if injuries are serious or the situation is
life-threatening. Unnecessary calls can hamper
rescue efforts.
Assess surroundings
• Check for hazards such as fire, leaks, chemical spills and precarious structures. Naturalgas companies ask customers not to turn off
their gas service at the meter unless they smell
or hear a leak. If you smell gas coming from
inside your home, call your gas company from
a phone outside. It’s important not to touch
electric switches or use the telephone until the
situation is corrected. Only the gas company

can restore service.
• Plug appliances into a generator directly or
with extension cords. Never plug a generator
into a household outlet because power can
flow back to the utility’s main system and injure
utility workers trying to restore power. Always
run generators outdoors to prevent buildup of
toxic fumes.
• Turn on the radio. In the case of an emergency that displaces many people, shelter locations will be announced.
• Give pets food, water and dry shelter. Keep
them away from antifreeze.
• Turn off all appliances except the refrigerator and one light. This prevents a power surge
when power is restored.
Call for help
• If phone service is available, give your out-

of-state contact an update on your situation. If
service is spotty, ask your contact to call your
insurance company if necessary, and your family and friends who may be worried about you.
Gather water
• Be prepared to treat, filter or boil contaminated water.
• Use hot water sparingly. Most water heaters
can retain heat for three days.
• If the water supply is cut off, drinking water
is still available in your home in water heaters,
in-house plumbing and melted ice cubes.
• Use a hose to get drinking water from your
water heater’s drain valve in an emergency. It
will be cloudy at first but will clear up after a
few gallons.
• If pipes break or leak, turn off water at the
shut-off valve inside your home.

Prepare food
• If the electricity is out, open the refrigerator
and freezer doors only when necessary. Eat
refrigerated food first, frozen food next and
dried or canned food last.
• Refrigerated foods should be OK for about
eight hours, holding a temperature of 40 degrees, unless the door is opened often.
• Food in a freezer of 12 cubic feet or more
should stay frozen for 48 hours if the freezer
is full and the door kept closed; that food will
keep safely cold for up to 72 hours. Frozen food
that has completely thawed — especially vegetables and dishes containing meat, fish, eggs,
cheese and cream sauce — should be tossed
out because of possible bacteria growth. If the
freezer temperature is higher than 40 degrees,
throw out all food.

The Legislature’s
proposed constitutional
amendments are
dangerous and will take
away precious rights.

The Florida State Conference of the NAACP
recommends that you Vote NO
on all constitutional amendments and
YES to retain all Supreme Court Justices.

CALENDAR • SPORTS • OBIT

B2

FLORIDA
COMMUNITY
CALENDAR

NOVEMBER 2 - november 8, 2012

2 CHAINZ

Rap artist 2 Chainz
will be at the Florida
Theatre Jacksonville
Nov. 23 for an 8 p.m.
show and at the
Fillmore Miami Beach
at Jackie Gleason
Theater Nov. 26 for an
8:30 p.m.

Tampa: Too Smooth Entertainment will present “I Can’t
Stop Laughing’’ featuring
comedians that have appeared on BET – T-Ray, Janet
Dollar and K-Dubb – at the
Cuban Club, 1226 7th Ave., in
Tampa’s Ybor City. The show
is Nov. 2 at 8 p.m. Tickets
$30. More information: 813244-7474.
Pinellas: The Pinellas
Advocates for Children and
Families, Inc. and the Pinellas
Association for the Education
of Young Children will present
a School Readiness Forum on
Nov. 13, 6 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.,
at Coordinated Child Care of
Pinellas, Inc., 6500 102nd
Ave. North. RSVP to cwall@
childcarepinellas.org or by
phone 727-547-2986.

SHIRLEY
MURDOCK

Orlando: A free Help for Homeowners Community Event
sponsored by Hope Now,
Making Home Affordable and
several non-profit partners
and state agencies will be
held at the Hilton Orlando Nov.
2 from 1 p.m. – 8 p.m. More
information: www.hopenow.
com.

Wellness” at 7 a.m. followed
by educational workshops at
8 a.m. and free health screenings beginning at 10 a.m.

St. Petersburg: The 15th Annual African-American Health
Forum will offer free health
screenings on Nov. 3 at the
Johnnie Ruth Clarke Health
Center, 1344 22nd St. South.
More than 30 Black doctors
will be on hand to answer
questions. The forum begins
with a “Midtown Walk for

Tampa: Rick Gee’s Jazz
Jamm, Inc. presents Jazz at
the Carrollwood Cultural Center Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m. The
concert will feature the Sarasota Jazz Project’s 17-piece
jazz orchestra playing original
pieces and old favorites. The
center is located at 4537
Lowell Road. Tickets $19 at

Shirley Murdock and
Miguel Nunez will star
in the gospel stage
play “Holding On to
What You Never Had”
on Nov. 4 at the Straz
Center, 1010 North
W.C. Macinnes Place.
More information:
813-244-7474.

BUDDY GUY

Buddy Guy will be at Seminole Coconut Creek Casino Nov. 11 for a 7 p.m.
show.
the door. More information:
info@carrollwoodcenter.org or
www.rickgeesjazzjamm.com.
Orlando: Tickets are now on
sale for a show featuring B.
B. King at the Hard Rock Live
Orlando on Jan. 1 at 8 p.m.
Ocoee: The City of Ocoee will
award $10,000 in matching grants for neighborhood
improvement projects as part
of its Most Valuable Partnership (MVP) Matching Grant

Program. The maximum
grant award is $2,000. Applications are available at www.
ocoee.org or at the City Hall
reception desk. The deadline
to submit applications is Nov.
30. More information: www.
ocoee.org or call 407- 9053100.
Tampa: Wiz Khalifa’s The
2050 tour at the USF Sun
Dome Dec. 2 for 7:30 p.m.
shows.
Orlando: Tyler Perry’s “Madea

Gets a Job’’ makes a stop
at the University of Central
Florida Arena in Orlando on
Nov. 8 and the American
Airlines Arena in Miami Nov.
9-10.

Kissimmee: The Freestyle
Legends Tour returns to the
Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee for its fourth flashback
into the ’80s and ’90s Nov.
3 at 7 p.m. The old-school
lineup features Lisa Lisa, Sugar Hill Gang, Sweet Sensation,

St. Petersburg: First Fridays
are held in downtown St. Petersburg at 250 Central Ave.
between Second and Third
Avenues from 5:30 p.m.10:30 p.m. More information:
727-393-3597.

Chris Bosh’s big
preseason for
Miami Heat no
random accident
lems for the opponent, and
he’ll have to continue to do
that for us to be successful.”

BY JOSEPH GOODMAN
THE MIAMI HERALD (MCT)

DAVID SANTIAGO/EL NUEVO HERALD/MCT

Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat poses during the team’s media day on Sept. 28.

R&B artist Natina Reed hit, killed by car
ATLANTA (AP) — Authorities are trying the
figure out why R&B artist Natina Reed was in
a street when she was
struck by a car and killed,
two days shy of her 33rd

TOJ

birthday.
Gwinnett County police say they’d like to talk
to anyone with information that could help
them determine what
happened to Reed late

Friday, Oct. 26, near Lilburn in metro Atlanta.
The 32-year-old Reed
was the rapping member of the 1990s female
singing group Blaque,
which had hits “808”

Chris Bosh led the Heat
in scoring during the preseason. On a team that includes LeBron James and
Dwyane Wade, it’s a notable
accomplishment.
Bosh couldn’t care less.
“It doesn’t matter,” Bosh
said. “To me, it’s an irrelevant statistic.”
Jokingly, Bosh has taken
to calling himself the “Mr.
Random Guy” of the Heat’s
offense. There are no set
plays for him. He’s rarely the
first option on an offensive
set. Yet, Mr. Random averaged 15.8 points per game
in eight preseason games.
Compared to other forwards, Bosh ranked fourth
in the NBA in preseason
scoring.
James finished the preseason ranked tied for 14th
in scoring (13.7 points per
game) among league forwards.
Exhibition numbers mean
little, or perhaps nothing, in
the grand scheme of a season, but Bosh’s statistical effort during the preseason is
anything but irrelevant — or
random — when taken in
the correct context.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra
spent the entire training
camp drilling his players on
the idea of a free-flowing,
equal-opportunity offense.
That Bosh, Mr. Random
Guy, emerged from training
camp as the team’s leading
scorer means the Heat’s offense is healthy.
“He came in ready, and he
has been open to what we’re
trying to do and how he fits,”
Spoelstra said. “But he’s also, arguably, the most versatile big in the league, so
he does present some prob-

and “Bring It All to Me.”
She was also an actress,
appearing in the 2000
hit movie “Bring it On,”
which also featured
Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union.
Police say Reed was
struck and killed while

Basketball jazz
More often than not, Bosh
is open on the offensive end.
The ball found him during
the preseason, and Bosh’s
skills did the rest. He led the
Heat in field-goal percentage (.551) while also leading
the team in rebounds (43).
James is the driving force
behind Spoelstra’s idea of
“positionless
basketball,”
but Bosh might be the second-most important cog in
the wheel. On most nights,
Bosh is the quickest big man
on the floor, and his consistent jump shot allows him to
stretch defenses.
Conventional defensive
strategy against the Heat
calls for packing the paint to
account for Wade and James.
Entering his third season
with the Heat, Bosh knows
where to find the open spots
on the periphery. He likes to
call those opportunities random, but, when paired with
James, the results are more
like basketball jazz.
“He’s open,” said James,
who led the Heat with 41 assists in the preseason. “We’re
playing with a lot more pace
and a lot more space for
him, and giving him a lot
more opportunities to go at
his matchup.
“There are going to be a
lot of games where he has
the speed and the matchup
to do whatever he wants out
on the perimeter, because of
his ability to shoot the ball
and also to drive.”

Summer of healing
Wade credits Bosh’s big
preseason to his work before
training camp. Bosh skipped

in the roadway at an intersection on U.S. 29. Police say the driver wasn’t
at fault and no charges
are being filed. They say
the only witnesses were
the driver and a passenger.
Investigators want to

the Olympics to fully heal
from the abdominal injury he sustained in the playoffs. Upon his return, he met
with Wade and James and
vowed to carry more of the
load early in the season.
When Bosh first arrived in
Miami, the Heat wanted him
to pack on muscle mass and
bulk up for a life in the paint.
Spoelstra scrapped that plan
after the playoffs when the
Heat used an unconventional lineup to win its second NBA championship.
The Heat’s coach instructed
Bosh to focus on his natural
skill set: speed, quickness
and shooting.
“He is really determined to
come out in the beginning of
the year and start fast,” Wade
said of Bosh. “He said, ‘Listen, I know LeBron is coming off the Olympics. I know
you’re coming off of surgery.
So, I want to hit the ground
running.’ He’s worked at it,
and hopefully he can.”
Bosh averaged 18.0 points
per game last season, but
Wade says Bosh is capable of “going for 20-plus a
game and probably more effortlessly than” himself and
James.

Hybrid power
forward
While Bosh has accepted the label of center, offensively he’s more of a hybrid
power forward than anything. The position of a traditional center is a dying art
in the NBA, so much so that
the league has removed the
designation from All-Star
ballots this season.
Fans will now vote for
three “frontcourt players”
and two guards rather than
two guards, two forwards
and a center. Despite the
change, Bosh still doesn’t
expect to garner any more
votes for a starting spot.
“He doesn’t get the respect he deserves,” James
said. “I know how important he is, and we know how
important he is. He’s an AllStar. He doesn’t need a center or a power forward on
the ballot to know that he’s
an All-Star. He’s one of the
best players we have in this
league.”

determine why Reed
was in the road.
She is survived by a
son, Tren, from a relationship with fellow rapper Kurupt. In a statement on Twitter, Kurupt
said: “This is a tremendous loss to our family.” Natina Reed

TOJ

NOVEMBER 2 - NOVEMBER 8, 2012

FOOD

B3

Family Features

If you love to entertain and want to
support a good cause, now you can do
both at the same time.
Now in its 10th year, Cook for the
Cure presented by KitchenAid is a program that gives people with a passion
for cooking a way to support the fight
against breast cancer. Through culinarybased fundraising, events, auctions and
the sale of pink products, the partnership between KitchenAid and Susan G.
Komen for the Cure® has raised over $8
million for the cause.
“It adds another layer of purpose to
one of life’s great pleasures, cooking and
enjoying food with family and friends,”
said Debbie O’Connor, senior manager
of brand experience for KitchenAid.
You can make a difference by hosting
a party that lets you Cook for the Cure by
raising awareness and funds for breast
cancer research. Here are some ideas to
get you started:
n Invite guests for an evening of appe­
tizers and drinks. (Try these recipes for
Mushroom-Onion Tartlets and Meatball Hors D’oeuvres with Tangy Barbecue Sauce.) Encourage fundrais­ing by
awarding a prize to the guest with the
highest donation. Or, let donors enter
their name into a drawing to win a restaurant gift certificate or spa treatment.
n Organize a fundraising bake sale.
(Your contribution could be these Coconut-Lemon Layer Bars.) Get the neighbors involved in baking, promoting and
selling — it’s a great way to bring everyone together.
n Host a potluck brainstorming party. Invite people who share your passion
for helping others to bring their favorite
dish and think up creative ways you can
support the cause as a group. Vote on a
project and then let everyone pitch in to
get started.
Cooking good food, sharing time with
friends, and giving back to the community — that’s a recipe for a truly great
party. Learn more at www.CookfortheCure.com.

Sharing baked goods with friends is a pleasure. Now you can do that and raise money for a good
cause.
You can purchase the KitchenAid “Pass the Plate” serving platter at www.kitchenaid.com.
Designed with charming art­work by celebrity chef and PBS cooking show host Jacques Pépin, the
platters were created to be re-gifted again and again, along with a homemade culinary creation
from the giver. Each time the individually numbered plates are registered online and passed along to
others, KitchenAid will make a $5 donation to Susan G. Komen, making this gift extra sweet. Since
2001, KitchenAid has proudly donated over $8 million to Komen through the Pass the Plate initiative,
sales of pink products, celebrity chef auctions, and fundraisers hosted by supporters like you. Please
visit www.CookfortheCure.com for more information.

The fine print and the jargon
and the tiny language changes
— it’s all stuff that makes choosing the right Medicare plan maddening. But a beefed-up federal
five-star rating system for Medicare Advantage and prescription
drug plans may make the choice
a whole lot easier this year.
The new enrollment period is
open for beneficiaries of Medicare Advantage and prescription
drug plans. The annual eightweek window – through Dec. 7
– allows newly minted seniors
— baby boomers who turned 65
this past year — to sign up for
policies and for current beneficiaries to reassess their current
policies.
There are some general changes worth noting.
Beginning this year, beneficiaries of chronically poorperforming plans will be notified by mail that there might be
better options elsewhere and
those beneficiaries may switch
to the highest-performing plans
throughout 2013.
Medicare for the first time will
cover screenings for depression,
obesity, sexually transmitted
diseases and alcohol misuse. It
also will cover behavioral therapy for cardiovascular disease.
Under health care reform,
Medicare discounts continue to
deepen on drugs in the donut
hole. This coverage gap is a period of time when seniors must
pay a higher cost for prescription
drugs — once the full-cost — until they spend enough to qualify
for catastrophic coverage. When
beneficiaries reach that gap in
2013, they will pay 47.5 percent
of the cost for brand name drugs
and 79 percent for generic drugs
next year.

Dr. Gwendolyn Graddy-Dansby, a geriantrician for Henry
Ford Health Systems talks to her patient, Annie G. Watts, 81,
after her dialysis treatment at the Henry Ford Center for Senior Independence in Detroit, on Oct. 11. Watts is a Medicare
recipient and really likes the care she gets at the Henry Ford
facility; all of her appointments are handled for her.
It’s a case of what you don’t
know can actually hurt you —
either financially, health-wise
or both, said Jennifer Therrien,
who helps train about 110 paid
and volunteer counselors with
the Michigan Medicare/Medicaid Assistance Program. MMAP
is a federally funded agency that
helps beneficiaries weigh their
options.
For example, plans now may
choose to cover benzodiazepines, a class of drugs that includes Valium and is used to
treat anxiety and insomnia, and
certain barbiturates such as
those used to treat chronic mental disorders. Those drugs in the
past were excluded from Part D
and were typically covered out
of pocket.
It’s up to individual insurers whether they want to cover
those drugs.
“Mental health issues really
are problematic for a lot of seniors,” said Kara Zivin, an assistant professor of psychiatry
at the University of Michigan

Often confusing

whose research has included
health policy and Medicare. “A
lot of seniors retire and are happy and are living out their lives.
But for others, depression, anxiety and sleep disorders — they
interact with other health problems.
“It’s real important that these
medications are covered the
same way (medications for)
physical disabilities are covered,” she said.

Co-pays can change
This expanded drug coverage,
along with the screenings that
will be covered now for mental
health, alcohol misuse and sexually transmitted diseases, are
the sort of services that not only thread through a senior’s daily quality of life, they have deep
impact on long-term mental and
physical health, said Dr. Gwendolyn Graddy-Dansby, a geriatrician and the medical director
of the Henry Ford Center for Senior Independence, a Medicareand Medicaid-funded center

EARLY VOTING STARTS
OCTOBER 27TH AND
ENDS NOVEMBER 3RD.

that helps seniors avoid nursing homes and remain in their
homes as long as possible
That Medicare will now cover those costs signals a shift in
understanding to the underappreciated issues that seniors
face: “We need to talk about it
and take it out of the closet,” she
said.
Assessing all the options isn’t
easy: Seniors and other beneficiaries must weigh short-term
savings in premiums against
long-term costs in co-pays or
limited benefits. They have to
consider developing health concerns and how easily they can
get access to a favorite doctor or
specialist.
“Every year things change.
And with prescription drug plan,
the co-pays can change. The premiums can change, and the list
of drugs can change. … It can be
really frustrating” navigating the
information, Therrien said.

Even the informational brochures are printed in type
large enough to read, said Betty Mitchell, 89, language can
be sometimes jargon-filled and
confusing.
“I used to say to my husband,
‘Do you understand this?’ He’d
say, ‘Well, about half of it,’” she
said.
And in an election year, it’s
difficult not to be distracted by
the noise of politicians’ promises and predictions.
But this much is clear: Nothing — nothing — has been
changed to substantially change
Medicare yet. As it stands now,
the heart of Medicare — the idea
of offering health insurance to
Americans 65 and older and
those with certain disabilities —
remains strong, said Jo Murphy,
director of the state MMAP program.
“This is not the time to be anxious,” she said. “This is the time
to take action to make sure you
have the best coverage you can
get.”

$

3,600

President Obama cut taxes for every working
American, putting $3,600 back in the pockets of
the typical family making $50,000 a years

21,912

Low-income students in Florida who received
support services to get into college and graduate

45,520

Florida children who have been able to take part
in Head Start and Early Head Start programs

M IT T ROM N E Y has promised to undo the
progress we’ve made and take us backward:

VALID PHOTO ID WITH A SIGNATURE.

VISIT VOTE.BARACKOBAMA.COM

To help you navigate the Medicare maze, here are some tips
from Gail Jensen, an economics
professor at Wayne State University
and a researcher at its Institute of
Gerontology:
Shop around, even if you’re happy
with your current plan. You might be
able to save money out-of-pocket
while preserving your benefits.
Remember that with Medicare
Advantage, there is no need to buy
Medigap insurance. Your medications are most likely covered, too —
though not always — so there may
be no reason to pay for a Medicare
Part D drug plan, either.
If you like your current doctor,
make a call to the office to make
sure he or she still accepts your
plan after the new year. Or, if you’re
leaving an employer-sponsored plan
and want to remain with that doctor,
find out what Medicare plans he or
she accepts.
Likewise, if you’re new to Medicare but like your current insurance,
call your insurer. It might have a
Medicare version of your current
coverage. That can keep you from
switching doctors, changing drug
coverage or even switching your
pharmacy.
If you’re looking for Part D
coverage, focus on the medications that you know you need rather
than stressing about medications
you might never need. Remember
that health care reform is forcing
discounts on drugs that fall into the
previous coverage gap known as
the donut hole.
Remember that the drug plan that
is best for you may not be the best
plan for your spouse. Most likely,
medication and health needs are
different, and your most affordable
options will differ.
When you’re ready to dive in
and compare policies, have a list of
medications ready. You’ll need them
to compare your options.
Don’t be afraid to enlist the help
of your grown children, a trusted
friend or trained counselors.

PR E SIDE NT OBAMA is fighting for African Americans:

TO VOTE IN PERSON, BRING A CURRENT,

FOR MORE DETAILS

TIPS ON SAVING
MONEY, PICKING
BEST OPTION

2,200,000

African American families who would lose key tax
cuts President Obama signed and pay an average
of $900 more, while millionaires and billionaires
receive a tax cut

7,000,000

African Americans who would be left without
health insurance if Obamacare were repealed

STOJ

NOVEMBER 2 - NOVEMBER 8, 2012

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

Meet some of

FLORIDA'S

finest

Staci Lyon has
been doing
professional
modeling since
the age of 7. She
started out as a
print and catalog
model, which she
continues to do,
as well as runway,
fashion and TV
commercials.
She has graced
hundreds of
runways both for
agency bookings
as well as charity
events and has
also walked
in Mercedes
Benz Swim
Week as well
as Miami Beach
International
Fashion Week. She
plans to continue
her modeling
career in addition
to studying fashion
design and
marketing. Contact
Staci on Facebook
at www.facebook.
com/staci.
lyon.7 or through
Wilhelmina Models
Miami at 305672-9344.

submitted for your
approval

B5

Think you’re one of Florida’s Finest?
E-mail your high-resolution (200 dpi) digital photo in casual wear or bathing suit
taken in front of a plain background with few distractions, to news@flcourier.
com with a short biography of yourself and your contact information. (No nude/
glamour/ fashion photography, please!) In order to be considered, you must be at
least 18 years of age. Acceptance of the photographs submitted is in the sole and
absolute discretion of Florida Courier editors. We reserve the right to retain your
photograph even if it is not published. If you are selected, you will be contacted by
e-mail and further instructions will be given.

ray

staci

Larry Ray aka
Ray is a model,
actor and
dancer. The
Kansas City,
Missouri native
moved to
Miami last year
to elevate his
modeling and
acting career
which he has
aspired for
since a child.
He says “this
has not only
been my dream
but a mission
that I must
accomplish.”
Ray considers
himself to
be a man of
integrity and
one who is not
afraid to do the
unthinkable.
“From photo
shoots to
movies, I’m
your man.”
Contact Larry
at larryvray@
gmail.com or
on Facebook
at www.
facebook.com/
raytheactor.

Whip Whitaker had an epic layover in
Orlando — an all-nighter with a sexy stewardess and much imbibing. A little sniffsniff bump to get him going in the morning? It just gets the day going.
He puts on his uniform and shows up for
work. He’s an airline pilot. Maybe a couple of bottles of the plane’s mini-vodkas to
take the edge off the edge? Why not?
He dozes off in the cockpit, brushes off
the “You feeling OK, Captain?” questions from the
MOVIE
co-pilot. He’s an accident
REVIEW waiting to happen.
But when it does, nobody is cooler under pressure than Whip,
given an aged, icy competence by Denzel
Washington. He gets a doomed jetliner on
the ground near Whip’s hometown of Atlanta with minimal loss of life. He’s a hero,
right? Except for all that earlier stuff.
“Flight” is a terrific thriller about that
crash — detailed to the nth degree — and
a moving drama about “that earlier stuff.”
Because what do you do with a case like
this, a self-destructive alcoholic whose
condition may have contributed to a tragedy, or mostly averted it?

Washington gives one of the great performances of his career in this fence-sitter
of a film. “Forrest Gump” director Robert
Zemeckis, returning from the “Polar Express”/ “Mars Needs Moms” toy store of
motion-caption animation, and screenwriter John Gatins (“Coach Carter”) serve
up a morally ambiguous morality tale that
dares to suggest that maybe this guy’s condition was a good thing — in this case.
And it’s that rare movie that slaps the
imprimatur of comic-cosmic cool on a
drug dealer. John Goodman’s drinkingand-driving, pony-tailed swagger as Harling, Whip’s candyman, is hilarious and —
dare I say it — heroic. He’s the first guy to
visit Whip in the hospital, the first to offer
“help,” the first with words of praise.
But Whip has dodged a bullet. Maybe
he’s ready to get straight. But not without
a little rationalizing.
“Without me up there, there would have
been 102 funerals, and not six.”

Some splendid scenes
One thread of the story concerns Whip
trying to get a handle on what has happened, and to keep “reluctant hero” attached to his name, with the help of the
head of his pilot’s union (Bruce Greenwood, always good) and the union’s lawyer (Don Cheadle, always great). They
pitch in despite the gathering evidence to
the contrary.

PARAMOUNT PICTURES/MCT

Denzel Washington is pilot Whip Whitaker in the new movie “Flight.”
Another thread follows Whip’s new
friend, Nicole (Kelly Reilly), a fellow junkie
he met in the hospital, a damsel in distress
whom he gallantly rescues, even though
we wonder if he can even save himself.
Zemeckis and Gatins deftly weave those
two threads together through some of the
best-acted scenes you’ll see in a movie this
year. James Badge Dale is splendid as a dying cancer patient who gives Whip and Nicole a little life perspective in a hospital
stairwell cigarette break. Brian Geraghty
makes a great impression as the frightened co-pilot who leans on his faith the
way Whip does his cocaine.
And Tamara Tunie is dazzling as an older
stewardess, a church-going Atlantan Whip
relies on when the chips are down. She delivers the film’s most moving scenes, first
in the cockpit, where Whip summons her
as they’re about to crash. Remember the
black box, he tells her.
“What’s your son’s name?”
“Trevor.”
“Say ‘I love you, Trevor.’”
But she and we see Whip’s dark side, the
one he wants to hide, the one he’s anxious
to get others to lie for him about. He’s arrogant, damaged, unfit for duty, for relationships, for life itself. Washington fearlessly
makes this guy as unlikable as any character he’s ever played.

TOj
B6

POLITICS

Civil rights icon still fighting for Black vote
TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

Ninety-one-year-old Rev.
Joseph Lowery may not
have been able to campaign
as much as he did four
years ago at the age of 87.
But, canvassing the state of
Georgia for the Obama reelection, is doing all he can
to turn out the Black vote.
“I think it’s an imperative
that we turn
out in large
numbers…
It’s imperative that we
turn out in
ma m m o t h
numbers to
re-elect him
because I
Rev. Joseph think he deLowery
serves ree l e c t i o n ,”
says the civil rights icon
who four years ago gave
the benediction at the inauguration of the nation’s
first Black president. But,
Lowery makes it quite clear
that race pales in comparison to the real reason that
he favors Obama over his
Republican opponent Mitt
Romney.

‘Raw courage’
“He saved this country
from a terrible actual catastrophe with his creativity, with his raw courage
to do the stimulus thing,”
Lowery said in an interview
with the Trice Edney News
Wire.
“And, in spite of the
bloodletting, ‘Let them go
bankrupt’ and ‘Let them
die’ [suggestion] of Mitt
Romney, Obama insisted
on saving industry; particularly the automobile industry and others. And I
think he deserves re-election. I think we need to do
everything we can to turn
out the vote and to encourage others to cast their vote
for Obama.”
But, it is clear that an invisible opposition – that
has little to do with political issues – will shave some
votes from Obama.
The Associated Press poll
has concluded that “racial
attitudes have not improved
in the four years since the
United States elected its
first Black president...Those
views could cost President
Barack Obama votes as he
tries for re-election.”
As a co-founder of the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference with
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,
Lowery is an old pro at recognizing racism.

‘Not Obama’s fault’
“I’ve never seen such
fierce determination on
the part of some people
in this country to prevent
his re-election,” Lowery
said. “He’s done very well
in spite of the fact that he’s
had very little cooperation
from Congress.”
Just in from a rally in the
68 percent Black city of Macon, Ga., Lowery recognizes that the Black voter enthusiasm from four years
ago has somewhat waned
in the face of high unemployment and other community needs.
But he is hoping that in
the few final days before
the election, voters will get
their druthers.
“They have to understand that it’s not Obama’s
fault. He inherited this critical state of affairs when he
came to office,” he said in a
voice raising to a convincing pitch. “That’s a difficult
sell to say, ‘Things would
have been worse if I hadn’t
done so and so.’ But, it’s the
truth. And he saved us from
a calamitous situation.”

leading Romney in Ohio
50 percent to 46 percent
(CNN) and the candidates
appear to be tied in Florida,
according to a CNN/ORC
poll.

Not deterred
Despite national polls
showing the candidates
within five points of each
other, Lowery is among
those who doubt the race

is as close as predicted. He
speculated that Black voters, expected to turn out for
Obama more than 90 percent, have probably not received the phone calls from
polling agencies.
“I don’t believe it’s as
close as they say it is,” he
said, “They haven’t been
counting us for years. That’s

nothing new. I prayed and I
believe a lot of voters who
have not made up their
minds, when they get ready
to go in that booth, they
will recognize that we need
this and that Romney is not
good for this country, the
kind of financials that he’s
talking about, he’s not good
for this country.”

Georgia for Romney
Despite the determination of Lowery and other
get-out-the-vote activists,
polls show Romney leading
comfortably in Georgia, a
state not considered a must
win for the president.
Republican Sen. John
McCain also won Georgia
in 2008. Democrats haven’t
won Georgia since Bill Clinton over President George
H. W. Bush in 1992.
In the final days of the
campaign, Obama and
Romney are focused largely on Ohio, Florida and Virginia in their quest for the

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